MF 811 Mental Health Public Policy: 3 semester hours
This course will consist of an advanced examination of mental health public policy and the impact of policy on mental health care. This will include examining the implications for mental health access, funding, and services delivery based on local and national policy initiatives. The course will consider these topics through a social justice lens to identify the systemic and cultural implications of public policy on maintaining systems of oppression within the context of mental health policy and practice. Students will also gain advanced knowledge of policy-making within the field of marriage and family therapy. The advocacy and policy efforts of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). This course will prepare students to fulfill the ethical mandate of marriage and family therapists to maintain a “commitment to service, advocacy, and public participation. The areas of service, advocacy, and public participation are recognized as responsibilities to the profession equal in importance to all other aspects (AAMFT, 2015)”.